smays.com: Music

I was expecting something else. A novelty act. Three guys (there can't be only three of them) with a gimmick that was getting a bit long of tooth.

What I got was the best live performance I have ever seen. (You're right. I don't go to a lot of live performances, so my "best" is suspect).

I wasn't going to post on this because this puny blog can't begin to capture the event. It was, as they say at alincoln.com, "above our poor power to add or detract.

" So let me just offer a few superlatives, in no particular order. The performance (Mizzou Arena) by was digital, interactive, smart, hip, techno, musical, percussive, clever, tight, wired and..

.fun.
I grabbed a few video clips and might add them but not even IMAX could capture the PVC-pounding vibe of the live performance.

Like they say, you had to be there. I'm glad I was.
I spent part of the weekend playing with Apple TV.

George came over Saturday and we had the thing up and running within 15-20 minutes. I won't try to "review" this device because a) I don't have the technical chops, b) I'm not a videophile or power user by any stretch and c) lots of websites and blogs have provided professional reviews.
And just for the record: Windows Media Center is light years ahead of Apple TV.

Superior in every way. A different league. Cheaper, better, faster, taller.

.. you name it.

I have no experience with Media Center but happily stipulate to the above.
George described Apple TV as "your iPod on steroids." A pretty good description.

I liked this from a :
"The basic rule of Apple TV content seems to be: If you can play something in iTunes, you can play it on Apple TV. That puts some limitations on users, but then, that's the price of simplicity."
The price of simplicity.

Yes, I will pay that price. Gladly. And Apple TV does everything I wanted to do.

And just those things. And does them beautifully.
When we turned it on, all of my photos and all of my songs and podcasts immediately transferred (wirelessly) to the Apple TV.

So I can now play my music through the TV speakers or the sound system speakers.
I created a couple of slide shows in iPhoto (with music from iTunes) and shoved 'em over to Apple TV. So easy that I'll do this a lot more now.

Probably as much fun as anything was to put the music on shuffle and let Apple TV shuffle images from iPhoto. And, as you might expect, Apple does this in a very cool and visually interesting way. You'd have to see it.

Navigating the Apple TV menu is as easy and intuitive as...

well, the iPod. No learning curve. Which also describes the Apple remote [far right in photo below].

Bottom line for me: I will do a lot more with my music and my photos than I have in the past. Just as the iPod changed the way I listen to music (and podcasts)..

. Apple TV is going to change how I use my TV. Like the box says, "Now there's always something good on TV.

"
Monday, March 26, 2007 at 07:36 AM in , , , | "Consider Neal Diamond, for example. He wrote and recorded some of the greatest songs ever. But then the hits stopped coming, despite the fact that his talent probably improved with experience.

"
I wondered the same thing , but Mr. Adams offers a reasonable explanation:
"They can do more of the same sound, and consumers will think it sounds too much like the last album. Or they can try something different, and be unfavorably compared to their own hits.

The public won’t be patient while the musician develops the new sound. It’s an almost impossible challenge."
Saturday, February 10, 2007 at 11:29 AM in | : Psychologists Jason Rentfrow of the University of Cambridge in England and Sam Gosling at the University of Texas at Austin, have found that strangers can accurately assess another person’s level of creativity, open-mindedness and extroversion after listening to his or her top 10 favorite songs.

While I had no data to support it, . Anyway, two of the conclusions in the new study caught my eye:
"Whether you can study or work efficiently while listening to music may depend on how outgoing you are. Background music can help extroverts focus but tends to torment introverts.

"
I've always thought of myself as an extrovert but I can NOT listen to music while I'm trying to concentrate.
"Fans of energetic music like dance and soul are more likely to impulsively blurt our their thoughts, compared with fans of other styles."
Guilty.

I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut.
Sunday, February 04, 2007 at 12:33 PM in , | A few days ago I posted on getting who used to work in radio down in my neck of the woods (Northeast Arkansa/Southeast Missouri). As I always do, I Googled Ben and got a hit on the Broadway musical, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

It ran from 1978 until 1982 (later made into starring Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds, Charles Durning et al) and Ben played in the Rio Grand Band, part of . I pinged Ben to see if he was "that Ben Brogdon":
"Yassir, tha's me. We had a western swing band in Nashville for the fun of it, and a friend of ours who produced Asleep at the Wheel (and some of Bob Wills later stuff, and Willie Nelson's early stuff, and who also played with Buddy Holly when he was killed) hooked us up to the powers-that-were, and we went to New Yawk on a trial basis and just stayed a while.

It was a great experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I honestly didn't like living there very much. I will have to say, though, there sure was a lot of great music to hear, and some incredible restaurants. The play, by the way, was a lot better than the movie.

I still sorta keep in touch with one of the authors of the play, Larry L. King. He lives in D.

C., and still writes some. Great guy with a great mind.

In case you're interested, I've worked with some kinda big name acts, but most of them were country. (Stonewall Jackson, Dottie West, Donna Fargo, Barbara Mandrell, and others). I did work a club in Nashville where we backed a lot of different people doing showcases, or even just settin' in, and got to play with Tony Orlando, Lou Rawls and others.

All in all, I'd say I've played bass for about 150 name or near name acts. And the number of great instrumentalists I've been fortunate to pick with still amazes me. I don't know if you've heard of some of them, but Lenny Breau and Danny Gatton, as well as Roy Clark, Chet Atkins and some others are some who I've gotten to pick for.

Now, please, I'm not name dropping, but I've been in the bidness a long time and have been very lucky.
If you saw The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas in New York at the 46th street theater in '78 or '79, I was probably playing bass. I left and went back to Nashville after about two years.

You'll also see me on a blues website, I think, and I'm on a lot of steel guitar things."
Talk about your Ben has agreed to let me interview him and we're working on the details but it sounds like he's got some great stories to tell. Stay tuned.

Did I mention purchasing the while getting coffee at a Starbuck's in Seattle? I heard one of her songs on the (aka The Starbuck's Channel) on XM and the announcer said something about getting the CD at Starbuck's. It almost sounded like that was the only place you could buy it but that can't be right.

I'm sure you can get it on Amazon and Wal-Mart and anyplace else music is sold. But I'm drifting from my point..

.
I was getting coffee this morning at one of the Destin Starbuck's and they were playing her CD. As I listened it occurred to me that Starbuck's was sort of like a radio station.

A radio station that sells music. And coffee. And a nice place to enjoy both.

All nicely wrapped in the Starbuck's brand.
I remember sitting in a bar in Des Moines (pre-Internet) listening to really good music. It was one of those subscription music services, delivered by satellite.

I remember trying to contact the company in hopes of purchasing some of the songs I heard. Impossible, of course.
Monday, July 10, 2006 at 10:45 AM in , , | Warning: This post contains material that some might find offensive.

But now you know and can spare yourself any discomfort or embarrassment by stopping here. If you do decide to listen to this very amusing parody song, you forfeit any right to piss, moan, bitch or otherwise complain. Are we good?

[Thanks, Terry]
"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." -- Mark Twain
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 06:36 PM in | I've come across a couple of times this weekend. I gather this little gizmo is still in prototype but .

For lack of a better word, they're little radios that have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios built in. The radios are used to download music and to upload data about what you are listening to. If you have one of these players, you can do cool things, like see what your friends are listening to, then play samples of those tracks, or buy songs and albums directly from the player.

The first Zing-powered players should ship this year, carrying the Sirius brand.
As I read about this I mentally pictured all the people I see listening to iPods. Which begs a question: Why don't I see anyone walking around with a transistor (do they call them that?

) radio? I mean, there are some really great radio programs..

.are we only listening to them in the car or at the office? Why?

If I'm willing to stand in line at Subway with nano earbuds hanging down my face...

why not listen to my local radio station?
After all, what could be easier? No iTunes to futz with and sync.

Just drop your little transitor radio in your pocket and go. I'm missing something here, aren't I?
Sunday, June 04, 2006 at 01:03 PM in , , , | Fill your home with sound, not stereo components.

Keep your music collection at your fingertips, not in countless CD cases. Change the way you experience digital music. For $349, delivers crystal-clear, audiophile-quality sound in a clean, compact design.

Might have to have me one of these. We probably turn our stereo on 3 or 4 times a year. I think I read that Apple has sold 10 million iPods.

If 1% of them buy one of these...

100,000 at $350?
Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 05:35 PM in | So you have great singer/song writers like Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, Don Henley and Glen Frey who --as far as I know-- aren't making hit records any more. They're rich, the royalties are coming in, they worked long and hard.

..so maybe they're just taking it easy.

Why should they bust their asses writing songs. Because they love writing songs. It was once their passion and I want to believe it still is.

So where are the songs?
Let's suppose in the hip-hop musical world of 2006, nobody wants to hear a song by these old farts. But that doesn't sound right.

I'm betting they're still writing songs...

and there are millions of fans who would love to buy/hear them.
Okay, here's the fantasy part. Let's say you're one of these musical legends and you still noodle around in your home studio, writing and recording songs.

Not necessarily 'hit' songs, just songs. Stuff you like. Why not put it up on a website, give your fans a little taste, and let us buy them?

I think Janis Ian (if you don't know, it doesn't matter) . And why not. If your music is no longer "commercially viable," but you still love making it.

.. put it up there.

Let us buy it direct. Like I said, it's a fantasy.
Speaking of music.

.. I would love to hear Sheryl Crow do Me and Bobby McGee.

Not the Joplin screamer. More of a ballad treatment maybe. Has she ever performed that song?

Still speaking of music...

I kinda like the song Table for One by Liz Phair.
Not a good drinking song, but haunting.
If somebody has 's email address, he can probably answer the question above.

Play the Kennett card.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 at 09:30 PM in | his #1 belief about management is: You = Your Calendar. "All we have is our time.

The way we distribute it is our 'strategic plan,' our 'vision,' our 'values.' Period. So how'd you spend your precious time today?

Tell me, and I'll tell you what you actually care about -- it's simple and unerring."
Maybe. But I don't want to be my calendar.

Nobody has to guess . It's all right here. But if I weren't a blogger, you could look at my iPod and get a sense of who I am.

In fact, here's what you can do in lieu of a memorial service for smays: Plug my nano into a good sound system...

put it on shuffle...

and let it play until the battery runs down. Friends can stop by for a few minutes and listen.
Monday, January 23, 2006 at 10:31 PM in | That's the title of a new country song by Kennett native, Trent Tomlinson.

Viretta and Nancy were beating this drum and sent us a pre-release CD. I sort of half-way listened to some of the songs but I'm not a country fan so I didn't really give it a shot. I just watched one of the videos on and loved it.

The video and the music. Like I said, I don't know shit about country music (possible song title?) but it sounds to me like the boy has some real mojo.

I went to school with Trent's daddy (and sat on the bench, watching his pop play basketball) so that might be a factor here. But if Trent's career takes off the way Sheryl Crow's did, we'll need a bigger Welcome to Kennett sign.
'Cause I keep worryin' about who's drivin' home,
Who's got the keys, who's got the 'phone.

Who'll pay the bill, call a cab.
I don't mean to make you mad,
An' I can't be with a woman, baby, who gets drunker than me.
Here are but be sure to .

[Thanks, Nancy.]
Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 12:42 PM in , | Zowie. Nobody needs to read one more gushing review of the iPod so I'll try to tone this down, but.

..damn.

The UPS man left a little cardboard box on the front porch today and inside was my . As in small. I already had iTunes installed with my meager music collection imported but syncing up with the iPod was about a 4 minute process.

259 songs...

zip...

in my shirt pocket.
I don't remember very many computer experiences being this easy (I know, I know..

.the Mac thing). The user interface is.

..a thing of beauty.

Sorted all my songs. Easy to navigate. And the sound?

Well, I'm not audiophile but it sounded perfect to me. The iPod ads frequently talk about photos and I couldn't imagine that being very useful, given the size of the screen, but I have to admit it's kind of cool. I'll put some more on.

It's easy to see why these things (in all flavors) are selling so fast. I showed it to Barb and she immediately decided she wants one. Anniversary present, in the bag.

And you know what? I've had the thing for half a day and I'm already thinking, "Maybe I should head on over to iTunes and buy a few songs." We'll talk about podcasts in a future post.

"the best combination of beauty and functionality of any music player I've tested -- including the iconic original white iPod. And it sounds great. I plan to buy one for myself this weekend.

"
I've tried three or four cheap little MP3 players and they work, sorta okay...

but I've had iPod lust since I saw the first one. And the new Nano is just too much temptation. And, yes, I know I can get more gigs for less money blah, blah blah.

I'm paying extra for the cool.
Every day there's more and more interesting new podcasts out there so it's time to gear up. Review to follow.

Terry McVey recently pointed us to the , and now has a nominee for Best Album Name: (Fat Possum Records) by R. L. Burnside.

Sadly, R. L. died on September 1, 2005, in a Memphis hospital.

"A Ass Pocket of Whiskey is a collaborative effort between well-known artists R.L. Burnside and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

Recorded in a rented out hunters cabin near Holly Springs, Mississippi, both acts bring their best to the table with amps turned all the way up, drums pounding and R.L. and Jon Spencer screaming with their charismatic voices back and forth at one another.

"
Based solely on track names, my favorites are: Snake Drive and Tojo Told Hitler.
Thursday, September 08, 2005 at 07:36 AM in | 9 minutes from 's opening set at The End Zone, Kennett, Missouri, March 19, 2004. It's a shame to edit any of songs Slick Co.

performed because they were all damned good. And just too long to post here. Even at 160x120, this file is 2.

7 meg but well worth the download. The video looks like it was shot in a dark, smokey old bar because it was shot in a dark, smokey old bar. Give me a few more days and I'll post some more.

Updated with Google video on 4/22/07.